


Truth Is... I'm Not Iron Man

by camichats



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe, Avengers Family, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Avengers, Domestic Fluff, Getting Together, Identity Porn, Identity Reveal, James Rhodes is Iron Man, Kidnapping, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Mistaken Identity, Misunderstandings, Rescue Missions, Secret Identity, Serious Injuries, Sexual Tension, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-13 01:07:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18458345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: The public doesn't know, but the team sure knows that Tony Stark is Iron Man. There are disagreements about getting him to admit it, and of course the biggest problem with that is, well, heisn'tIron Man. Rhodey's Iron Man, and it's a very specific kind of torture for Tony to see the man he's been in love with for most of his life to be in danger 24/7.(Tony Stark Bingo K2-First Date, IronHusbands Bingo O5-Sharing A Bed)





	Truth Is... I'm Not Iron Man

**Author's Note:**

> Identity porn? In my fic? It's more likely than you think. Also lots of fluff but that's just my brand. 
> 
> Fyi, Tony's kidnapping is brief and not explicit, but they do dose him with a hallucinogenic for a minute-- but we don't see his POV for it.

Tony was standing in front of the press, Agent Coulson’s note cards in hand.

“I never said you were a superhero,” Christine Everhart said, and Tony had to wonder how stagnant her life was that she was still bothered about a billionaire famous for being a playboy running out on a morning after conversation with her.

“Well good, because that would be outlandish and uh, fantastic.” He cleared his throat and held up the cards. “Truth is…” He glanced out at the crowd, dropped the cards, and said, “Iron Man is my bodyguard, and the world hasn’t seen the last of him. As for the fight yesterday, I’ll be paying for the damages, and I imagine that’s all you care about. We’re done here.”

Tony called Rhodey, who hadn’t been able to make the press conference because he was, in his own words, doing something ‘more important than pandering to the public’.

“What’s up?”

“Wanna be Iron Man?”

A pause. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely. Quit the military and spend time with me full time honey bear. You don’t even need to be in the military anymore, with all our contracts just finishing their course. They don’t need you for that. I guarantee I pay better than they do, not to mention a better benefits package. Also I didn’t tell anyone you were Iron Man, so there’s a secret identity for you, if you want to be all Clark Kent about this.”

“Can’t I be Bruce Wayne?”

“I’m the billionaire here.”

“Does that mean that I’m supposed to be really nice? Cause I remember MIT, Tony, I don’t think that’s going to fly.”

“Well you’re not one of the five richest men in the world, and you’re not a woman, so that rules out Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne. Be Superman, Rhodey, come on.”

Rhodey laughed. “Why are you talking like you have to convince me? I’m there. My contract runs out next month, I just won’t re-sign this year.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” Tony said, not exaggerating in the slightest.

* * *

Steve stared at the armor as it entered the room. He scrambled to his feet and swallowed thickly, adjusting the bag on his shoulder and feeling like he was short and stick thin again. “Uh, hi Iron Man.” He stuck his hand out. “It’s good to meet you, I’ve heard great things.”

A staticky noise came from the suit’s speakers, and it took Steve a moment to recognize it as laughter. “That’s high praise, coming from Captain America. It’s great to meet you too. Mister Stark asked me to show you around while he’s busy, if that’s alright.”

“Of course. I’m sure he’s a busy man.”

Iron Man laughed again. “Extremely. But he always makes time for the Avengers. So, first,” he gestured to the elevator with wide arms like a showman, “the elevator! Exciting stuff.”

Steve chuckled. “It’s got more buttons than the one at Shield.” It started moving without any prompting, causing Steve to look around in confusion and mild alarm.

“It’s alright Cap. Do you know what an AI is?”

He shook his head.

“It stands for artificial intelligence. It’s basically a robot without a body. A really smart computer that’s like a person.”

“Oh. Um. Okay?"

“Mister Stark built one, his name’s Jarvis and he runs the Tower. Jarvis, say hello.”

“Hello Captain Rogers, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” a British man’s voice said. “If you require assistance, simply say my name and I’ll respond.”

“It’s nice to meet you too Jarvis. And uh thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure Captain.”

“Um- Steve. You can call me Steve.”

“Try all you want Cap,” Iron Man told him, “he won’t listen to you. He doesn’t even call Mister Stark by his first name, and he made the guy.”

“It’s important that I am polite,” Jarvis said.

Iron Man snorted, moving towards the elevator doors when they opened. “Polite in the most technical sense,” he whispered to Steve. Well, the intent was whispering. In the armor, it amplified his voice so he could be heard, which meant his voice wasn’t any quieter than before, it was just in a different pitch. “Don’t worry, I’m sure he likes you. Anyways,” he said, clapping his metal hands together with a clang, “this is the Avengers’ floor. This way is your room. I mean, everyone’s room is this way, but you don’t care about that. Uh, I think anyways. Jesus, sorry, I’m starting to ramble.”

“It’s alright,” Steve said with a little smile. “You’re a fan, aren’t you?”

“You’ll have trouble finding someone who isn’t,” Iron Man said defensively. “And in my defense, I was hiding it really well until just now.”

“Not really.”

Iron Man let out an exaggerated gasp, putting his hand to his chest. “The history books never said you had a sense of humor. Ridiculous, I want a rewrite.”

“Of… all the history books?”

“Stranger things have happened, you should know that. Anyways, this one is your’s.” He pushed the door open but didn’t step inside. He waved Steve in but kept politely out. “If you can’t remember, just ask Jarvis.”

Steve set his bag down on the bed and took a cursory look around.

“The closet’s one of these doors, and the bathroom’s the other.”

“I get my own bathroom?”

Iron Man nodded. “Mister Stark thought it would be easier than having two bathrooms on this floor that you all had to share. He also called it a ‘cruel and unusual punishment from biblical times’. He tends to exaggerate, just ignore him,” he added when Steve looked a little worried.

“This is… a lot,” Steve said nervously.

Iron Man shrugged. “Take it up with Mister Stark. I’m warning you now though, he already has a prepared speech about how all the Avengers deserve this. You’re not going to be able to change his mind. But, if it’ll make you feel better, by all means talk to him about it.”

“Should I be scared to meet him?”

Iron Man laughed. “Not at all.”

“It’s just- the way you talk about him…”

“He’s my employer, what were you expecting? Don’t listen to me, I’m just blowing off steam.”

“Alright,” Steve shrugged, walking out of the room and closing the door behind him. Not that he wanted to be rude, but he’d been stuck in Shield quarters for so long, he wanted to keep his space private.

When he did meet Tony Stark, it was kind of what he expected, in a weird, rambling genius sort of way. “You must be the guy Howard never shut up about,” is what Tony started with, causing Steve to blink at him in surprise. “Normally that would make me hate you on principle, but Iron Man said you’re alright, which probably means you’re great, which kind of makes me upset with you because he used to like me the best.”

“Okay?”

“Oh! But where are those manners Pepper insists I have? Tony Stark, at your service, and I do mean that quite literally. Anything you need Captain, don’t be afraid to ask.”

“Um. Iron Man said something similar.”

“Yeah me and the big guy are like one mind,” Tony said absently. “Oh!” He snapped his fingers as something occurred to him. “I remember what I wanted to ask you about now. Your room. How is it? I got wooden furniture for you because I figured you would go for the old rustic look of sturdiness but if that’s not good, you can totally replace it. I don’t know if I mentioned, but literally everything you could ever want is on me, you’re not paying for anything.” He pointed at Steve as if expecting him to disagree-- which, fair. “And I mean it. Captain or not, in this Tower, for matters of money and expenses, I outrank you.”

“O...kay.” And that was that. He hoped he didn’t come off as a slack jawed idiot, but, well, considering the way he acted, he doubted that. He doubted that very, very much.

* * *

The Avengers had been together for two years now. Two years filled with team training, movie nights, eating out, and-- of course-- fighting supervillains together.

And Iron Man still had his secret identity.

Three months in, Steve realized that Tony must be Iron Man, but no amount of telling either identity changed his mind. Steve even talked to the rest of the Avengers about it, and they all agreed it was Tony, but if he was still keeping it a secret after all this time? That meant he had his reasons and they should respect it. Rather, Bruce said that, and Clint called him a wet blanket but didn’t actually tell Steve to keep bothering him about it which meant he agreed that Tony was Iron Man.

"I don't understand why he doesn't trust us with it," Steve said, for what must have been the tenth time. They'd had this conversation so many times that no one had anything new to say about it, but sometimes it felt nice to say it all again.

"I'm sure it's not a matter of trust," Natasha said, and Steve nearly jumped in surprise. Natasha was a new addition to the team, and this was her first time having this conversation.

"What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "I trust Clint as much as I trust myself, but we still haven't had sex. It's not a matter of trust, it's a matter of me not being ready. Perhaps the same is true for Tony. He trusts all of you-" Steve noticed that she didn't include herself and marked it to think about later "-but is not yet ready to come to terms with the change it would bring to your interactions."

"Maybe," Steve said, thinking it over. It was definitely a better theory than any of them had come up with so far, and it _did_ make sense.

"Has he really not told any of you though?" she asked, looking around the room.

They all shrugged or shook their heads. "Tony's always been a pretty private guy," Jan said from the couch where she was flipping through a fashion magazine and critiquing it. "Everyone tries to have their nose in his business and it's hard to hide anything important from reporters, so when he has a secret he holds onto it with both hands. Which is why," she said with a pointed look at Steve, "I think we should leave it alone. Whether or not Tony is Iron Man doesn't matter because he doesn't want us to know."

"You're only saying that because we all know that he _is_ Iron Man," Clint accused, and Jan shrugged.

"I've nearly lost Tony three different times, and I don't want to go for a fourth just because I couldn't keep my curiosity to myself. So if you want to ignore his boundaries, that's your business."

"Thank you for that guilt trip Miss Van Dyne, now to Bruce for the weather."

Natasha smiled, hiding her face in Clint's shoulder which just made him beam.

Steve wanted to respect Tony's boundaries-- which was why he didn't badger him to tell them the truth-- but it was hard for him to understand when his secret identity had lasted all of a week before he threw it out the proverbial window and told the Howlies the truth.

**In the 'shop**

"I swear to god Rhodes, you have to be nicer to my equipment before it fails on you out of spite."

"Your equipment would never fail unless it had been tampered with."

"Well stop _tampering with it_."

"Come on, you know I didn't mean it like that."

"Do I?" Tony said, raising an eyebrow, causing James to roll his eyes.

"Yes, you do, now stop having a stick up your ass about it. You used to know how to have fun."

"I swear, you retiring from the military has turned you into a wild child. What happened to my dear sweet Rhodey bear? The Rhodey that was sensible and--"

"I _had_ to be sensible because acting without orders would've gotten me a dishonorable discharge, and no matter how much you bitch about my reckless behavior, you're no better. Also you love me too much to get rid of me," he said with a shit eating grin, and it was Tony's turn to roll his eyes, no matter how true the statement was.

"Yeah yeah, keep telling yourself that. You are undoubtedly the biggest pain in my ass."

"But not the _only_ one, which you would do well to remember. I'm also the cutest pain in your ass, which is why you keep me around."

"You are a rather cute Rhodey bear," Tony acquiesced, hoping that James couldn't see how hard his heart was beating. But then, he hadn't noticed for years, and there was no reason why he should suddenly notice now. Hell, Tony had been harboring this crush since MIT and Rhodey hadn't even hinted at knowing. Tony was safe. And that was the problem, he was... safe. Always safe.

* * *

Tony decided that it was finally time to have a check-in with the doctor, and he expected everything to go okay, but that wasn't quite what happened. She sat him down and gave him a speech about how he had to start taking care of himself if he wanted to make it his sixties. "I _do_ take care of myself." And it was true, he did! He exercised, he ate healthy, he even got regular sleep now.

"And that's good," she assured him. "But what you're doing now hasn't been modified to your current health conditions."

"What do you mean health conditions? I thought you said I was fine?"

She stared at him for a moment. "Mister Stark, there is nothing new pressing on you, but your arc reactor brings up many complications to your health, and I thought you were already aware of what those were. It says here that you visited a doctor directly after Afghanistan, and then again six months later."

"Yeah that was- it was for something else." Heavy metal poisoning wasn't a common issue these days, especially not with palladium, and especially not with Tony's unique situation. It wasn't exactly something he went around broadcasting, because then he'd have to explain how he fixed it, and he wasn't in a hurry to tell people about the new element he was putting in his body. The less information people had about the arc reactor, the better. "We didn't really talk about long term issues."

"Oh. Well then." She flipped open his file and pulled out a few x-ray scans, clipping them to the board and then flicking on the light so he could see them. "The arc reactor is taking up space in your body, obviously. The problem is, you had organs already in that space. Your heart is shoved to the side to make room, and pieces of your lungs were taken out in the initial surgery. If that weren't enough, you lost the majority of your breastbone," she said, pointing at the stubby length of it in his picture, "and all that's keeping you together is this section and the way the arc reactor has fused to the ribs here. It's keeping your ribs from drifting and dislocating, but your body doesn't think of that as a suitable replacement for bone. Basically, you need to start doing exercises to keep it from crushing into your spine."

Tony swallowed. "Okay, that's doable. What else?"

"I'm sure you've already noticed your diminished lung capacity," she paused and looked for a confirming nod before continuing, "and I'm afraid that's only going to get worse with time as well. There are a few stretches to help with that, but we're looking at you carrying around an oxygen tank in the next five, ten years."

It was looking more and more like a good idea that he was no longer Iron Man. He didn't even want to think about what his life expectancy would be if he was in the armor every week, fighting villains and getting tossed through walls. "Alright. Anything else?"

She shook her head. "Not for the moment." She took the x-rays down and turned off the light, putting them back in his folder. "Keep eating right, make sure you're getting at least six hours of sleep every night, and definitely do the exercises and stretches. I'll email you a copy of instructions for them, and we can check back in two months from now."

"Okay."

"Take these with your breakfast," she said, writing out a prescription and tearing the paper off to hand it to him, "for the pain, and let me know immediately if something feels wrong. If your chest feels tight, if you get lightheaded, call me."

"I will. Thanks doc." He walked out of the examination room, feeling downtrodden. Carrying around an oxygen tank? Taking pills every single day and doing stretches? It made him feel so old, and it hit him that here he was in the second half of his life and he was chickening out of telling James that he was in love with him. Why wouldn't he just tell him? It was _James_. They'd long since reached the point that it wouldn't ruin their friendship if Tony told him, and a gentle rejection wouldn't hurt near as much as missed time with him.

Rhodey was in the workshop when he got to the Tower, so he made his way down to find him designing a new Iron Man suit. It was good, but the design was too short for James to fit inside it. Who was he planning on building it for?

"Hey," Tony said, announcing his presence.

James turned to him with a smile, surreptitiously closing the file behind him. "Hey. How'd it go at the doctor's?"

"Meh," Tony shrugged.

His smile turned to a concerned frown. "Are you okay? You're not sick right?"

"No, I'm not sick. I've just been... thinking about a few things."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Missed opportunities, failed relationships, that sort of thing."

"You're going back into the dating world?" James asked straightening.

"Not the dating world, just one person."

"Oh? And uh, who's that?"

Tony glanced around at the 'shop and the fact that it was only James he was talking to. "I only see us."

James blinked and slumped back against the work table as he understood what Tony meant. "Oh." He swallowed. "Tony, I-"

"Don't worry about it," Tony said, trying to make his smile as not-sad as he could. "That's sort of what I expected. I just wanted to say something in case... well. Doesn't matter now." He turned around and made his way to the door, heart sunk so low it was in his shoes, dragging across the floor.

"How long?" James asked suddenly, right when Tony's hand was on the doorknob.

Tony glanced back. "What?"

"How long have you felt that way?"

"A while. Couple years."

"Couple years like actually a couple years, or couple years like since MIT?"

Tony's hand twitched and he played with the cuff on one of his sleeves to cover it. "The second one."

"Jesus Tony I thought of you like my kid brother back then."

He didn't quite flinch, but that was only because his body felt frozen in place. "Yeah- uh, I know. It's why I didn't say anything. I guess I was hoping that things had changed for you since then. It's fine James, really."

"It's not _fine_ ," he said harshly, and Tony did flinch this time. "No, no no no not like that Tony." He was out of his seat in an instant, walking toward Tony with an arm out, that he put around Tony's shoulders as soon as he was in range and pulled him into a hug. "I've- I've been half in love with you my whole life, and I thought you knew but were ignoring it because you didn't feel the same. And now all of a sudden you're here telling me that you like me too and I panicked."

"You... you like me back?"

"Love you," James corrected. "I _love_ you, and I'd really like to take you on date if you'd let me."

Tony sagged into the embrace, burying his face in James's chest as his arms came up to hug him back. "A date? Like with flowers and food?"

"Flowers, food, a movie, the arcade, anything you want Tony. I mean it, anything."

"And if I said I wanted to go to Paris and visit every pastry shop we see?"

"I'd say that I have vacation days, but we might not be able to eat all that food by ourselves."

"Coward. Do you need to pack a bag?"

"Not really, but it would smart to while we chart the plane for it."

"I fell in love with a dumbass, I don't know _who_ you are. Come on," Tony said, pulling away so he could open the door and drag James out of the 'shop. Or rather, so he could pull on James's hand as he followed behind him. "Paris waits for no one."

James laughed, pulling Tony back against him for another hug. "Why don't you tell Pepper you'll be gone for a little bit, and I'll tell Cap that I'm taking a few days off, and _then_ we'll pack."

"Sounds good." After a too-short elevator ride, they split ways to take care of their tasks, but a few minutes later Tony was knocking on Rhodey's door.

"Come in!"

Tony stepped inside, locking the door behind him because technically this was Iron Man's room, not Rhodey's.

"Everything okay?" he asked, looking up from his half-full duffel.

"Yep. I was just wondering if this is the sort of trip that I should pack lingerie for?"

James dropped the socks he'd been holding, and he bent down quickly to pick them back up. He was blushing when he straightened, and he cleared his throat before talking. "I'm not gonna tell you no if that's what you want to do, Tones."

"I'd be doing it for you, so how about you weigh in? I've got a few in men's styles."

"...and women's?"

"Lots."

He cleared his throat again. "What kind? Are we talking panties or?"

"Panties, stockings, teddies, babydolls," Tony waved his hand as he trailed off. "Pretty much everything. Except fetish wear cause that doesn't do anything for me."

"Me either." James licked his lips and begged for his body to calm down so that he wouldn't have to finish packing with a hard-on. "Uh, any of that sounds good. All of it, whatever. Whatever you want, Tony."

"Fine, but if I put on something and you don't like it, I'm citing this moment for why it's your own fault you're not into it."

"Duly noted."

Tony nodded, turning back to the door.

"Tony?"

"Hm?"

"You know you don't have to do any of that right? We can take things slow. I don't want you to think that you have to- put out or something to keep me happy. I just want you."

"Don't be so self-sacrificing," Tony said, rolling his eyes to try and distract from the fact that his cheeks were pink. "I'm trying to get laid and here you are acting all gentlemanly."

"How dare I."

"That's right. I don't want to see any of this once we're in Paris. It's the city of sex Rhodey, and we are going to help it stay that way."

"I thought it was the city of love?"

"That's millenial propaganda."

James snorted. "Go pack, I'll see you in a minute."

"You bet your perky ass you will," he said, winking at James and then leaving.

"Bold of you to say I'm the one with the perky ass," James muttered to the empty room. Tony walked around like _that_ , and then pretended like he didn't know it. He wondered idly if Tony would let him be on top, or if he'd try to fight for it. Hell, they might not even get that far on this trip. They hadn't kissed yet, and talking smack was a lot more comfortable for them than actually doing the thing they were talking about. Yes, the idea of Tony in lacy lingerie for him was hot as hell, but he'd be perfectly happy if all they did was hold hands and give each other short kisses for the duration of the trip. Still, he packed some lube and condoms in his bag, just in case.

* * *

"Hey guys," Steve said as he walked into the communal kitchen and joined most of the team for lunch, "Iron Man's taking a few days off for vacation. Wasp and Thor will be the only fliers, so try not to jump off any buildings if they're on the other side of the battlefield Clint."

"I hardly ever jump off buildings anymore," he argued, but he was barely heard with Natasha's following declaration.

"I heard that Mister Stark's going to Paris for the weekend." They all stopped to look at her, and she shrugged. "Pepper brought me out for a facial when he called to tell her."

"Guess that makes sense," Steve said. "Anyone up for pizza?" There was a chorus of yes's with Clint shouting yes joyfully, so Jarvis placed the order.

* * *

Things were... awkward on the plane. It surprised both of them, because it had been fine right after they talked, and when they were packing it was okay, so why would it be bad now? But inexplicably, it was. They turned on a movie, so it wasn't too obvious, but there was a tension between them that hadn't been there before. It made sense when James thought about it since they were now trying to move from friends to something more, but that didn't mean that he liked it.

They checked into the hotel, and James said, "So... one bed." He was aiming for teasing, but it came out more nervous.

"Yeah. Is that- um, a problem? I just assumed- but maybe I should have- I'm sorry I'll call the front desk and get you your own room and-"

"Tony," James said, grabbing his arm when he made for the room's phone. "I was joking. It's fine."

"Oh." He looked away, embarrassed. "Right that- that makes more sense. Are you hungry? We can pop into that bakery next door and grab something if you want."

"Sounds great," James said with a smile.

"You want to go now or?"

"One second."

"Okay well-" he stopped abruptly when James grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together.

"Okay?" James checked.

Tony didn't trust his voice, so he nodded. He cleared his throat after a minute of comfortable, if charged, silence. "Ready to eat some questionable sweets?" he said as they started to walk.

"What makes them questionable?"

"The fact that neither of us speak French."

"Wait," James said, "you don't speak French?"

"Nope."

James blinked at him. "Please tell me you're joking. Please tell me that we are not going to be the obnoxious Americans that don't know anything."

"Well that would happen whether or not we spoke the language."

He glared playfully. As it turned out, Tony _did_ speak French, but it was broken and stuttering, not fluent which is why Tony himself did not consider it to be 'speaking' the language. It was enough to get them food, even if there were a few times where he had to repeat himself and describe what he meant. Tony sighed heavily once they sat down. "My accent is total shit. On the funny side, he thought I was Italian."

"Italian, really? I mean, yeah you're half and you speak it and all but..." James trailed off uncertainly, unsure how to put it in words.

Tony knew what he meant though and shrugged. "I guess I'm using my Italian accent instead of my American one, which makes it all the stranger that I don't know French."

"It's a useless language."

"We're in France."

"Under normal circumstances, it's a useless language."

Tony shook his head, but he was grinning. "I guess I have the rest of this trip to change your mind."

"That's what you're going to be focusing on? If I'd known that I would have brought a playboy."

"I'm very persuasive," Tony said, looking at James as he somehow managed to sip at his coffee seductively.

* * *

Things were going well. So well, in fact, that they forgot about nerves and expectations and all the bullshit that came from being around their normal lives, living the day-to-day. They had a romantic date and stumbled back to the hotel, stopping every few feet to kiss the sweet taste of champagne and chocolate off the other's lips.

The hotel door locked automatically behind them, and Tony wasted no time in wrapping his arms around James and kissing him filthily. " _God_ , Tony," he breathed when they parted. "You. Are driving me crazy."

"Then do something about it," Tony challenged, rolling their hips together.

His hands went automatically to Tony's hips, then, after a bare moment's hesitation, curved around to cup his ass.

"You're going to fuck me right? Cause I didn't get all cleaned up and-" his breath hitched when James leaned down to suck a hickey on his neck "-and I packed condoms and lube, like so much lube, and I don't want that to go to waste."

"It won't," James said, promise dripping from the words. He walked them back to the bed, which was slow going since they refused to separate and walk properly, but it made them rub against each other delightfully, ratcheting desire higher and higher. They fell onto the bed, and James hovered over him, a warm solid weight atop Tony that made him moan.

James was just sliding a hand up Tony's shirt to get it off when the phone rang, making them jump apart, startled. If it had been a normal phone, they would have ignored it and gone back to what they were doing. Maybe James would have reached for it and immediately hung up and then turned it off so that it wouldn't interrupt them again. But that was the emergency alert from his Avengers ID card, and he couldn't just ignore that. He was on vacation, which meant that his card was immediately turned off from the usual Avengers' alerts. So if it was ringing now, that was because the team absolutely needed him.

With a bitten off groan, James crawled off of Tony and answered the call. Tony looked on hopefully, thinking that maybe this was a fluke and they just needed to know where extra comm's were and they needed Iron Man's code to access them. Jarvis automatically filtered his voice like he was in the suit, so he didn't have to worry about that at least. "Iron Man."

"I'm sorry to interrupt your vacation," Steve said, voice clearly reflecting how much he hated having to call him up like this.

"It's fine Cap, what's up?"

"Red Skull's making a move against Shield, and we could really use you on this."

"Red Skull," James repeated, looking at Tony, who now looked resigned. He gave a sad smile and waved his hand to convey that it was okay. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Steve rattled off an address. "And Iron Man? Thank you. Sorry again."

"It's fine Cap. See you soon." He hung up, then closed his eyes with a long sigh. He let himself have those four seconds of self pity. After that it was time to save the world, and he got to his feet. "Sorry Tony."

"It's okay."

James made his way to the suitcase armor and Tony followed behind him. "I'll grab our stuff and head back home," he said as they walked.

"I can come back after it's done," he tried weakly. Red Skull was a pain in the ass just as most villains were, but he was dangerous. A fight with him _always_ ended with casualties, at least one of them being an Avenger, usually two. Even if Rhodey made it out unscathed, it was a tiring fight, and he wouldn't be up to a sexy/romantic getaway for a while. He'd want home and comfort, and it was ridiculous to pretend otherwise.

"No it's fine, I didn't give Pepper much warning, she'll have something for me. Besides, we can always come back," Tony said with a plastic smile that made James's heart shrivel a little. They wouldn't be coming back for a while, and James _hated_ that. They'd been having such a good time, and it had taken them so long to get here... it wasn't fair, but this was the way it was and neither of them would be able to change that.

"We don't need Paris to enjoy each other's company," James said as the Iron Man suit folded over him. The faceplate clanked down, and he turned to Tony, lightly pressing a finger to Tony's lips. "Love you."

Tony laughed, pressing a kiss to the armored finger. "You too. Go kick some Nazi ass."

* * *

"Hey Tony," Jan said after the fight with Red Skull was over and she saw him in the living room. "I thought you were in Paris?"

He shrugged. "Decided to cut the trip short, wasn't getting anything done."

There was a blotchy bruise on his neck, probably from where someone had swung a lamppost at Iron Man's neck, denting the armor and sending him into a brief panic when he couldn't breathe for a minute.

"Speaking of, I have those gala invitations you were pestering me for. Not that I know why you bothered since all the Avengers were invited."

"The _Avengers_ were invited. I, Janet Van Dyne the great and wonderful fashion designer, was not. I couldn't very well show up looking better than everyone in the latest fashion when I wasn't even invited, that would be rude."

"It's only the latest fashion because you're the one wearing it," he pointed out with no small amount of amusement.

"All the more reason I should have been invited! I'm a delight to be around."

"Maybe they want to be miserable."

Jan had to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying, _'Is that what_ you _want?'_. Instead she smiled and said a coy, "Maybe."

* * *

They got an Avenger call in the middle of the night, and James was staying in Tony's room. They'd kissed a little-- okay, a lot-- but gone to sleep without anything else happening. So when the call came, it woke Tony up as well as James, and he watched grumpily as James suited up.

"Call me if you need help," Tony said, tilting his head up for a goodbye kiss that James easily gave.

"I will." He wouldn't need that help barring an apocalyptic event, but they both knew that so there was no reason to bring it up. He straightened and the faceplate clanged down, and he walked to the door. He didn't think anything about it until he stepped outside the room and-- in the middle of closing the door-- he came face to face with Steve, mostly dressed in his Captain America gear. "Steve!" He closed the door hurriedly, nearly pulling the handle off in his hurry. "Uh, I was just--"

"Sleepwalking?" he asked, clearly amused. He shook his head like he wasn't the least bit surprised to find out that Iron Man and Tony Stark were sleeping together. "Let's just finish up this fight so we can all get some sleep." The innuendo he was expecting never came, and he frowned in confusion as he followed him down the hallway. It was possible that he was just being considerate, but that seemed more than a little unlikely.

The emergency turned out to be a young witch just coming into her powers, who had accidentally made her pet parakeet massively giant-- with the intent that it would be big enough to hug comfortably-- and didn't know how to shrink it again. The bird didn't know what the hell was going on, and so it was understandably freaking out and accidentally crushing things. Once Jan was in range, she shrunk it back to size and handed it over. The whole thing took less than forty seconds, and the new witch was off to Xavier's school, appropriately sized bird on her shoulder and nesting its face in her hair as she waved goodbye sheepishly.

They piled back on the quinjet. "So," Steve said pointedly, "heading back to your room for the night?"

James just blinked at him. Steve wasn't a prude, so what gives? It's not like he had a crush on Tony.

"Cap," Natasha said warningly.

"If there's something you lot want to say, maybe you should just say it."

"No," Jan jumped in, too quickly and her smile too purposefully cheerful to not be suspicious, "there's nothing. Right Steve?"

"Guys-" Steve started, but Bruce cut him off.

"It's none of our business."

"Does someone want to tell me what the fuck is going on?" James butted in.

"No," Natasha said firmly. "Because it's your business, and we're not going to pry when it doesn't concern team safety." She glanced back from the pilot's seat to look at Steve pointedly. "That's what we agreed, isn't it Captain?" She went back to looking out the front, not able to see the way Steve continued to look at her for a moment before nodding.

"Right." He took a deep breath. "Sorry Iron Man, I shouldn't have said anything."

"I don't even know what it is you were trying to say." James couldn't often say he was completely lost. Sure Tony was a literal genius and he often talked about his projects with Rhodey, but they'd gone to the same college for a while, and he'd graduated top of his class. He didn't have the inventing capability that was so deep in Tony it was like he was a human creating well, but it was easy to follow what he said. People always thought that Tony was the most confusing part of his life, and while elements of that were true, James was far more confused by the exchange that had just happened than he'd ever been by something Tony said. He looked around the quinjet hoping he could press one of them for answers, but they were already landing on top of the Tower and everyone was starting to stand. He couldn't help asking another question though, just on the off-chance that one of them would explain. "What was all that about?"

"Your identity," Bruce said. "You told us when this all started that you didn't want to tell us, and that hasn't changed so we should respect that."

His identity? Really? They wouldn't care half as much about his identity if they knew that he was Tony's boring friend Rhodey. Not that he thought he was boring, but people always thought that when they met him through Tony, like since he wasn't a genius billionaire he was a dull blob from the sewers. "It's not that I don't trust you guys," James said, and he noticed, puzzled, that all of them were paying attention and not even bothering to hide it, "I've just been keeping it secret for so long that I don't even think about it anymore."

"Do you... want to tell us?" Clint asked slowly.

He shrugged. "I'd have to check with Tony first, but I guess I. Could." He made a face. "You all have expectations, I think meeting me in person would just disappoint you."

"You could never disappoint us," Steve said, being heartbreakingly sincere.

Jan nodded vigorously. "Even if you have terrible taste, I promise to keep it to myself."

He snorted, and it came through as a burst and crackle of static through the speakers. Over the years, they'd learned what the different sounds meant, and that one was definitely amusement.

"Hey," Jan said, straightening, "I was being perfectly genuine."

"I know, Jan," James said, still chuckling. They landed on Stark Tower and all shuffled off back to bed, and this time no one commented when Rhodey made his way to Tony's room. He was thinking over the end of their conversation as he walked. He hadn't really thought that any of them cared that much about his identity. Oh sure he knew they were _curious_ , but he had no idea they were actually having conversations and trying to deter each other from prying just so he could maintain that piece of privacy. In the beginning, it definitely had to be a secret, no two ways about it. But now, after all the time they'd been together, there was no one he trusted more. Tony was included in that group of course, but there was no group in the world that he trusted more.

He closed Tony's door and slid out of the suit, leaving it in pieces on the floor as he slipped back in bed. Tony didn't wake up, but he did stir and scoot closer unconsciously when James put an arm around him and cuddled close. He'd talk to him about the identity thing in the morning and see where they landed. If Tony said it was okay, great. If not, he'd tell the Avengers sorry but not yet. By the time Rhodey retired from Iron Man they'd know, of that much he was sure.

* * *

James actually forgot to mention it the next morning, but it's not his fault that he woke up with his dick nestled against Tony's perfect ass, and Tony was rocking his hips tantalizing.

That marked the first time they had sex-- or a version of it at least-- and James forgot all about the identity thing until the team issued Iron Man an invitation to join them for lunch.

Tony frowned when Jarvis relayed the message. "They know you can't eat in the suit, why are they asking?"

"I was supposed to ask you about my secret identity."

"What about it?"

"They want me to tell them who I am."

Tony blinked, and James was glad that he wasn't the only one surprised by their desire. "Oh. I uh- guess you can," he said, but there was something shifty about the way he said it that made James suspicious.

"What?"

"What what? You asked if you could, I said yes."

"Actually I told you that the Avengers wanted to know."

"So you don't want to tell them?" Tony asked, starting to get confused.

"I don't know. Don't you think they'd be disappointed?"

"Disappointed by what? Your rugged good looks or the fact that you're already taken?"

"Tony," he said, trying to use his stern voice, but he was too amused for it to work. "Please tell me that you're not actually worried one of them will- what, steal me from you?"

"Of course not," he said, too dismissive to be the truth.

"Tony," James said again, pulling him in for a hug, "the only thing that can split us up now is the end of the entire universe. Not to mention that none of the Avengers are the slightest bit interested in me."

"You don't know that, Steve's quite fond of Iron Man."

"That's because we're friends."

"Hmph."

Knowing that there was nothing else he could say, James just kissed the side of Tony's head, hugging him until eventually he sagged in his arms.

"You can tell them if you want to. It's not like any of them will use it against you."

"I'll think about it," James said.

Tony hummed, and they stayed hugging for a few more minutes. "We both know you're going to tell them."

"How do I even say that though? 'Hi I know you all think of me as Tony's weird friend but I'm actually Iron Man'?"

"Since when are you my weird friend?"

"I dunno."

"You're not weird, you're... enabling."

"It's just a random word I chose Tones, I didn't mean anything by it."

"Too right you didn't," he said with a decisive nod against James's chest.

He wasn't going to admit it right now because it would be all too easy for Tony to label him as reckless (and hilarious), but he was probably just going to take his helmet off with no warning one day. That way he wouldn't have to work up to it at all, it would just be out there and then he could deal with whatever they had to say about it.

* * *

James woke up alone even though he'd gone to sleep next to Tony. Now that they'd been together for another week, this wasn't anything new. It's not that Tony was trying to sneak out or anything, but sometimes he got an idea that he couldn't shake. Rhodey had, admittedly, been hurt the first time that he'd left, certain that it was a retroactive panic to their relationship. Fortunately Tony caught on right away and was able to convince him to stop being stupid-- James's words, not Tony's.

He snuffled then sneezed. Rubbing at his face, he looked around to see if Tony was in the bathroom. He wasn't, so he was probably in the workshop then. He thought about asking Jarvis after him, but there had been a bit of a flub at SI recently; he needed to make up for all the work they'd lost the past two months in a week and a half. Tony could use the sleep, but for once, James agreed that he needed to work more. He turned over to get comfortable and fell back asleep.

He woke with a start when the Avengers' alarm went off through his identicard on the nightstand. Tony was still gone, but that was expected. Jarvis changed his voice automatically when he answered it, filtering his voice so it seemed like he was in the suit. "What's the situation?"

"Iron Man?" Steve asked, sounding shocked.

"Yeah?"

"You're- nothing. Suit up if you're not already. Everyone meet on the quinjet, we'll brief on the way."

He was too tired for his mind to be working on all cylinders. Otherwise, he would have put together a few things before they actually happened. For example, he wouldn't have had to wait until Steve said the words, "Tony Stark has been kidnapped," in a grave tone for it to click. And he would have understood that when Thor said, "Are we certain?" while glancing at him, they all thought it was Tony inside the suit.

"As certain as we can be," Steve said. "Which means that unless we get proof otherwise, we're taking this seriously. As far as we know, AIM has-" and it went on from there. James was in a weird space of processing everything that was being said, but if he was asked about it, he wouldn't have been able to repeat the words.

He'd never thought of himself as particularly violent, but no one on the team thought he was being that way as they broke their way into the facility. Pretty sure the word Clint used was 'efficient', but that's not the way he felt. It felt like he was taking out all his anger and panic out on them, destroying anyone that made their way into his sight. Tony had been _right next_ to him, when did it happen? Did AIM seriously come into their room and snatch him right out from under James's arm and he didn't even stir? If he weren't so mad at AIM, he'd be kicking himself. Tony had been a high profile target long before Iron Man, and he likely would be for the rest of his life. He needed to get his fucking head in the game before something worse happened-- and he did hold that Tony was fine. He'd survived kidnappers, attempted assassinations, you name it, Tony had survived without any help. James had no doubt in Tony's ability to save himself, but he shouldn't have to now that he had him and an entire team to back him up.

It was easy to find him, but that was no surprise. AIM had clearly set this up to be a long term holding, so for them to show up not even twelve hours later meant that they weren't prepared for _anything_ , let alone the Avengers. AIM always had been a group of fucking morons.

That was the good news.

The bad news was that the room they were keeping him in was unnaturally cold for the location, and they had obviously injected him with a drug of some kind. Hallucinogenic if the way his eyes were fixed on people and objects that weren't there was any indication.

"Tony?" Clint tried when he didn't respond to them walking in.

His eyes darted over, and his expression hardened. Clearly, whoever he was seeing wasn't Clint.

Rhodey figured that Tony would always recognize the Iron Man armor, so he started to walk over. Jarvis projected Tony's erratic heartbeat on the HUD, but he didn't think anything of it. Not until he was a foot away and Tony took a wild swing, breaking one of his fingers on impact. James froze in place. "Tony? What's-"

"Shut up," he spat. "You- you don't get to call me that."

It was obvious that whoever-- or _what_ ever-- Tony was seeing wasn't James, and he didn't think twice before stepping out of it, the suit folding away and then back in place as sentry mode.

Tony reacted, but not quite in the way he'd been imagining. He grabbed Rhodey by the shirt and pulled so that Tony was slightly in front of him. "What are you doing here," he hissed, eyes trained on the Iron Man armor like he thought it was going to attack them. "You've got to leave, Stane's going to-"

"Stane's gone Tones." Gently, James put a hand on his shoulder and tried to steer him away from the suit since it clearly was doing more harm than good. "Look at me."

Tony glanced at him, then away again quick as a feather, but Rhodey grabbed his face before he could turn back.

"Look at me," he repeated. Tony did. "Whatever else you're seeing right now, it's not real. AIM stuck you with something that's making you hallucinate. Do you trust me?" Tony nodded. "I'm going to get you out of here. AIM's gone, so we're going to walk and everything's going to fine, okay?"

He nodded again.

"Okay," James said again.

The Avengers tactfully didn't say anything about the reveal or what had just happened. Few words were exchanged, and all of them were about directions or confirming that the next hallway was clear.

* * *

Tony was knocked out on his hospital bed, and they were all upstairs in the Tower. "So," James said for lack of anything else being discussed. "I guess that was one way to tell you guys who I am. Not really as planned, but." He shrugged as he rubbed at his eyes. Technically the day was only half through, but all he wanted was to crawl back in bed. Of course that would be unsatisfying since Tony wasn't in it, but it was the thought that counted.

"So it really was you as Iron Man the entire time?" Clint asked.

"Yeah?" Rhodey said, frowning slightly. "Why?"

They exchanged glances, but Bruce, who was barely in the land of the conscious blurted out, "They thought it was Tony. I told them it wasn't but nobody listens to me."

"You all thought I was Tony?"

"It made sense at the time," Steve said weakly.

"I don't see how." Maybe at the beginning sure, but it had been years now and there was no excuse.

"You didn't show up at the same events as him despite officially being his bodyguard," was Natasha's input.

"And you talked the same," Clint said.

"You knew a lot of things that we thought only Tony would know," Jan added with an apologetic grimace. "And you did so much math on the fly that we assumed it couldn't be anyone else."

"You know that we met at college, right? Same school and everything. Sure I'm not at genius level like him, but I'm not stupid."

"Well no," Clint said, "Tony wouldn't be able to stand you if you were, but we didn't really think about it. It seemed so obvious, you know?"

Rhodey blinked once, twice. "What the fuck man. When I imagined how you all would react, I can honestly say that this never crossed my mind." He huffed. "Tony's going to be so insufferable about it, just you wait."

"Wait a second," Steve said. "I saw you leaving his room the other day."

"Yeah and then you didn't rib me over it, I was pretty surprised. I guess that was you thinking I _was_ Tony though, huh?"

Ignoring what he said and continuing with what he'd been thinking, Steve asked, "Are you two... together?"

"Well if not staying the night in his room was pretty weird. Look, I'm tired can we talk about this later? And by talk, I mean I'll bitch about how you thought I was Tony and you can feebly try to defend yourself."

* * *

Tony was grumpy, no two ways about it. Rhodey was mad at him. Like _really_ mad.

"You should have told me about this sooner Tony! I had no idea any of this was going on, and I know you had no intention of telling me."

"That's cause I didn't want this to happen," he grumbled.

James narrowed his eyes. "AIM damaged your lungs worse than they already were. You could have died, the doctors would have been all 'yeah we saw this coming' and I just would've been blindsided."

"I think you're exaggerating, it's not-"

"You have to carry around oxygen," he said flatly. "Something happens to it and you're toast. Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Okay first of all, the doc told me I had at least five years before this happened, it's not my fault supervillains are assholes. And it's not like I was keeping this from you on purpose, I just forgot."

"You forgot you were taking meds and doing daily exercises so that you could keep breathing? Yeah, that sounds reasonable."

It was Tony's turn to glare. "Hey, my health problems are the reason we got together at all, so I don't want to hear it. And it's your own fault for making me so blissfully happy that I forgot about it, so really this is _all_ your fault, and not at all my own."

"I'm sure," he said, voice as dry as the desert. "Wait, what do you mean your issues are the reason we're together?"

"Hm? Oh is that the door I heard? I think someone's--"

"Tony."

Tony sighed, leaning back in the chair and fiddling with the top of his oxygen tank. "I went to the doctor for a check up, and instead she tells me that my body's starting to fail on me, and that I wouldn't make it past sixty if shit didn't change. And I mean, sixty that's not so far away you know? That's less than twenty years, and I've known you for longer than that. I just didn't want to waste the rest of my life not telling you how I felt because I felt like I was running out of time, y'know?"

James blinked. "You finally told you me that you liked me--"

"Love," Tony corrected. "I love you."

"You told me that you love me because you felt like you were running out of time?"

"Well it sounds bad when you put it that way."

"What other way am I supposed to put it?" James sighed rubbing a hand over his head. "I don't mean that I'm just... scared. We've barely been together, and now we're talking about your imminent death."

"Let's face it, with Iron Man, you're going to be going out around the same time I am, which puts us back at spending the rest of our lives together, and I think that's wonderful."

"Aww Tony Stark's a romantic, someone call the Daily Bugle."

"I'd rather die than call them up. And what are you doing acting all surprised? We got together and then ran off to Paris to spend some time together. We've been disgustingly romantic about this since the start, and you can't blame me for all of it."

"Wasn't it your idea to go to Paris?"

"I thought it was your's? Maybe it was a joint decision," Tony mused. "That sounds like something we would do."

James laughed, gingerly joining Tony on the couch and cuddling up to him. "Yeah it does." They sat in silence for a minute, and then he said, "Do me a favor, and let me know about future health problems? I don't want to be surprised again."

"Anything you want," Tony replied, leaning his head on James's shoulder, and he mean it: anything. "How'd the team take it?" he asked, referring to the Iron Man reveal.

Rhodey snorted. "I'll tell you about it later."

"That bad?"

"That weird," he corrected.

"Sounds interesting, I look forward to it."

"You would."

"You shouldn't sound so disparaging of your life partner."

"Huh. Do you think we should get married."

"That's not a nice thing to joke about, Rhodes."

"Who said anything about joking? I'm not proposing, but like. We're sitting here talking about us being together for the rest of our lives as if it's a given. Marriage wouldn't be all that different."

"I suppose not. Wait then why aren't you proposing? I'll have you know that I'm a damn catch."

James groaned with a laugh when Tony sat up, looking fake offended.


End file.
